The Diner Islington, Relaunch

Last week, a couple of us Bangarangers were invited to the newly refurbished Diner in Islington. This was not to be my 1st Diner experience as I’m already a BIG fan ,however it was my 1st ever visit to their Islington branch, but it shan’t be my last! I attend quite a few live music concerts in the area, so The Diner would be a great spot to hit pre-gig.

The big windows at the front make it bright and give it the feeling of being even more spacious than it already is. The bar in the middle is a great idea for when it gets busy and customers want to sip some cheeky cocktails whilst they wait for a free table. There was no waiting for a table for us though, so we grabbed a booth and got our drinks orders in.

I went for the cherry pie which tasted very cherry and yummy, but I feel like it was missing some fizz. Also, talking of drinks, I spotted the team photographing this beauty!

This is called a Peepshake. It’s an eggtra (yes I went there!) special Easter milkshake available at The Diner’s London restaurants this Good Friday only! If you fancy getting your chops around one of these it’ll set you back £15. But be quick as there’ll only be 5 per restaurant available! I’ve booked James & I in for a morning visit because I NEED ONE OF THESE!!

Right, now that’s outta the way, back to the food!

As we were a table of 5, we decided to order one of each of the starters (minus the corn dog as it’s not very easy to share between 5). The queso with tortilla chips comes in a separate dipping pot with the chips pm the side, whereas the Super Queso is loaded on top of the tortilla chips with hot beef chili, sour cream, guacamole, salsa and jalapenos, all on 1 big plate. I’m not really one for spicy food so I steered clear from the Bacon Jalapeno Tater Tots and the Diner Chicken Wings, but both dishes went down very well with the others. I did, however get involved with the buttermilk Freakshow chicken strips, as these guys are one of my regular orders, with tender meat coated in crispiness.

Next, we each ordered our own mains. This was the difficult part as I couldn’t decide whether to go for one of their all day breakfast dishes or a big juicy burger. On this occasion I picked the burger, the Diner Chicken Burger to be exact. This was a buttermilk fried chicken breast in a smooth, fresh bun usually topped with Monterey Jack cheese, streaky bacon, pickles and slaw, only I thought I’d mix it up a bit and scrapped the bacon and pickles for sliced avocado and caramelised onions instead. When it arrived, it was piled high, but somehow I managed to fit it in my gob and eat it without making too much of a mess. It was perfect; the chicken was succulent, the avocado were the perfect level of ripe, though the caramelised onions could’ve been a bit sweeter. We also ordered a couple of sides to share including the sweet potato fries, a personal favourite of mine, cooked to perfection, and I had my 1st ever try of the garlic butter fries which were really tasty with just the right amount of flavour intensity.

After we’d finished stuffing our faces as much as was humanly possible, we skipped dessert, instead each going for a cup of The Diner’s Sno-cone. Apparently these had tequila in them, but all I could taste was ice and cordial. A little disappointing but not enough to dampen our belly-well-fed-happy moods.

If you’re looking to get your burger and hard-shake fix (try the choconaut – chocolate milkshake with a shot of rum) I cannot recommend The Diner enough. As far as food chains go, this one is pretty cool with banging soundtracks (think Springsteen & Blondie) and laid back, but friendly staff, it’s the perfect date night or catch up with friends hangout spot.

* I was invited to drink and dine at The Diner for free, but rest assured, all words and opinions are my own 🙂

7 thoughts on “The Diner Islington, Relaunch”

It’s a crime that Easter milkshake was only available for one day. That is an all day everyday kind of thing. Like, whenever anyone is upset, an Easter bunny with an Easter egg milkshake should just appear by their side. It’s not like that bunny has anything big planned for the rest of the year, he may as well help us all out 😉

Ahoy

I’m Charley, and welcome aboard this ship of a blog. I'm a London based blogger with a love for vintage fashion, The Beatles, cookies and all things nautical. Here, you'll find posts on fashion, music, food, and the general things I get up to in London & beyond!
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